IT’S FINALLY HERE. Godzilla Vs Kong (2021) Review

Is it Citizen Kane? Of course not. Is it the Citizen Kane of kaiju films? I can’t say for sure but it’s definitely a competitor for that title. With its glorious action, fast pace and somewhat engaging characters, Godzilla vs Kong gave me everything I wanted from a monster film.

This fourth instalment in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse begins with Godzilla rampaging around the world for unforeseen reasons. To stop him, an organisation known as Apex travels underground to an interior space known as the Hollow Earth to find a power source that they can weaponize and use against Godzilla. The tech organisation achieves this by releasing Kong from his Skull Island containment facility and using him as a guide. Soon the great ape and the King of the Monsters cross paths, kicking off the battle of the century.

The Characters

The film has two plots, one for each monster. In Kong’s plot, a Hollow Earth specialist (Alexander Skarsgård) convinces Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), a linguist who works with Kong, to allow Apex to acquire the Titan. With her she brings her adopted daughter, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a deaf girl who communicates with Kong using sign language. As well as a mother-daughter relationship, Jia and Ilene share a relationship with Kong himself as they both consider him to be a sentient being. In this respect, Kong himself is a character, rather like that of his previous incarnations as he is held in captivity and forced to obey his human captors, Ilene and Jia being the few humans who’re acting in his defence. Of the whole cast these three characters are the most empathetic, especially Jia and Kong as they bring a personal stake to the battle.

[Credit: Warner Bros.]

If Kong’s plot is a family drama then Godzilla’s is a sci-fi thriller. Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown’s character from Godzilla King of the Monsters) teams up with a conspiracy podcaster (Brian Tyree Henry) to investigate Godzilla’s rampant behaviour. Their search uncovers a human cause behind the Titan’s attacks and a threat that’s even more devastating than Godzilla and Kong combined. These characters are not as empathetic as Jia or Ilene but their investigation is well paced and has plenty of surprises. Plus, Brian Tyree Henry is a legitimately good comic relief.

For general audiences, the characters in Godzilla Vs Kong are much better than those in King of the Monsters as everything we learn about them is, in some way, linked to Godzilla or Kong. The film doesn’t waste time explaining their backstory and past traumas, it simply shows how they relate to the monsters. Speaking of which…

The Monsters

Godzilla Vs Kong achieves an almost perfect balance of monster action and human characters. Of course the humans take up a bit more time but that’s totally forgivable in my book as, love them or hate them, without the human characters there’s no way we can understand the monsters and their impact.

Of the two monsters, the film focuses the most on Kong which makes sense when considering the premise. Since he’s more of a character than a monster, Kong’s set up requires more time. While I wouldn’t call him a villain, Godzilla’s presentation in this is more aligned with the ambiguous force-of-nature guise he adopted in his 2014 film than the heroic persona he displayed in King of the Monsters. Hence having him less present in the film is justified as unlike Kong, Godzilla is recognised for what he can do, not for who he is. You don’t empathize with him like you do with Kong but you are intrigued by him as you know how out of character his behaviour is in the story.

The battle scenes are the best I’ve seen, certainly in the MonsterVerse and possibly in Kaiju cinema. We don’t get a on-the-ground perspective of the fights like we do in 2014’s Godzilla but the effects are so well done you can feel the weight and scale of the creatures and the destruction they cause. Even though a winner is determined, both monsters have their moments and do plenty of damage to each other. Whether you’re Team Kong or Team Godzilla, you’ll see your monster at their best.

Depending on what else I see this year, Godzilla Vs Kong could very well make its way it into my best of the year list. The characters are engaging and don’t overstay their welcome, the monsters are empathetic and awe inspiring and the fights are stunning. It’s a good, fun watch. What better medicine can you recommend for a quarantined population?

I give Godzilla Vs Kong a solid 8 out of 10.